Tuesday, October 09, 2012

When Rock Critics Overreach (An Occasional Series)

From Sunday's New York Times The Ethicist column by ex-Spin editor Chuck Klosterman:

My fiancée and I attended a Death Cab for Cutie concert at the Beacon Theater. We had first-row seats in the balcony section. We typically stand at concerts to dance and sing along, but we didn’t because no one else in our section was interested in that sort of thing. However, during the encore, we decided to stand for the last five songs. We were immediately chastised by several people behind us and told to sit down. Were we wrong to stand? Does the type of music or venue dictate whether it’s all right to stand? -- BOBBY CALISE, NEW YORK

Were they playing “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”? If so, it’s acceptable to stand. Otherwise, totally unethical. You are a monster.

See -- this is the kind of crap that happens when you let people like me pontificate about morality.

I had the exact same experience the writer had. Even up tempo numbers seemed to fall on a amphitheater of apathetic ears. Were they even listening to the music? I dunno. But that was probably because, other than the bass player, DCFC have absolutely no stage presence. It was the worst concert experience of my adult life.-BlakeS

I have to weigh the pros and cons of sitting in my seat or standing out on the lawn at a shed concert. This year I was seeing Motorhead and went inside and stood when they played. It's Motorhead fer chrissakes! You stand and rock out. And all I got was "siddown". From young people who should know better. "Just let me sit back and relax to "Overkill". Is that what they planned to do? Stay home and watch tv or go see a flick if you want to sit.